Rejection
by Araedia
Summary: Rejection hurts. Not only for the person rejected, but also the person who rejects. Arya/Faolin, Arya/Eragon, ONESHOT


**This is set after the chapter "Shadows of the Past" in Brisingr. A completely random fic that suddenly popped into my mind. Arya's memories are in italics.**

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Arya stared blankly at the darkness surrounding her as she sat on the branches of a tree. She had been seated there, unmoving, for the past three hours, ever since Eragon had gone into his waking dreams. Every time she thought she had succeeded in controlling her emotions, a single thought came up in her mind and the blank mask she struggled to create was torn down again.

_Faolin._

She had thought that she had buried the pain deep inside her, but one mention of him to Eragon, and her heart shattered again.

_Faolin._ In her mind, she saw him as clearly as if he was standing before her. _Arya__..._ she heard his voice in her mind. She closed her eyes. Unbidden, another image came up in her mind.

_Eragon._

So many parallels between the two. Faolin and Eragon. The two people in her life most important to her. The only two people before whom her mask had ever broken down. And she had pushed them both away.

Memories besieged her...

_Faolin and her, both young, together in Du Weldenvarden, riding out as ambassadors of the elves for the first time..._

_The first time they had confronted Urgals. Faolin, far more skilled than her in swordplay had already felled their enemies, but he had such sadness in his eyes. "They don't deserve to live in this way, like animals, Arya..."_

_Birdsong and a sweet fragrance assaulting her senses. " ...this is as close to perfection as I could manage it. As are you, Arya..." She was holding a large velvety blue-black blossom. He whispered "Open..."_

_She standing in the gardens at Tialdari Hall. His voice from behind_ _her. "I need to speak to you." Looking into his eyes as he held her face in his gentle hands. "Arya Svit-kona, I love you." His soft voice magnifying in her ears. Her eyes widening in shock..._

She saw herself walking away from him_. __I was such an utter, utter fool. What did it matter if he wasn't a prince of a House? I had imagined my whole life with him ahead of me, plenty of time to return feelings I was unsure of at that time. Plenty of time indeed... I was foolish._ A single tear rolled down from her eye, leaving a salty trail. _Faolin... I loved you too._

_Glenwing accompanying them after that because of the uncomfortable void that had sprung up between the two..._

_And that final, fateful day. His lifeless body lying on the ground, as beautiful in death as in life. And that single drop of blood that marred his face..._

_Day after day of torture and madness, with Durza working on her body, and her guilt and pain eating her up from inside..._

_And finally, hope. Hope in the form of a young Dragon Rider. His magic healing her and the gentle touch of his mind against hers. Eragon... who reminded her so much of Faolin- a kindred spirit, the only one of his kind._

_The war... breaking the star sapphire to reach him in time... his agony at both Murtagh's supposed abduction and because of the scar inflicted on him by Durza..._

_The days passing at Ellesmera... and the fairth that showed his intense feelings for her, and also awoke new emotions in her- emotions she had not felt since Faolin. Breaking the fairth in an attempt to subdue her feelings..._

_Then Agaeti Blodhren. Eragon's changed appearance reminding her so strongly of Faolin... "Is that you, Eragon?"...__or Faolin come back to me?__ His words "...and how beautiful you are, O Arya Svit-kona..."_

_And her walking away again, this time not because she wanted to, but because of a promise to herself- to see the Galbatorix thrown down and crushed for all he had taken from her and her race, at any cost to herself, at any sacrifice, least of all distracting their only hope of ever winning. She saw his crestfallen face and felt a sharp pain inside her, but forced herself to keep walking. "I'm so sorry, Eragon..."_

Arya clenched her fists, as another tear rolled down. _Is this my destiny, to continually walk away from the ones I love, without even giving them the comfort of knowing that I love them too? To break the hearts of those I cherish the most? To lose them and keep living on, as a hollowed shell?_

She stood up abruptly. She made her way through the forest, walking towards the place where Eragon lay. As she pushed aside an overhanging branch, she suddenly remembered the words she had spoken to Eragon. "_For twenty years, we were the only immortals to walk alone amongst the other short-lived races__._" Today, for the first time since Faolin's death, she had walked the earth with an immortal by her side. Eragon.

She stepped out from the forest and looked into the stars. _After the war_, she thought as she looked towards Eragon's sleeping form_, __maybe there is hope for us after all._

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**A/N: This is the first time I've ever written angst, so I'm not really sure how good this is... why don't you leave a review and tell me?**

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